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P2P Backed Film Platform to Reward Influencers

Posted: 03 Oct 2010 04:32 AM PDT

Supported by a conglomerate of file-sharing sites and applications, the VODO project offers a novel distribution platform for indie filmmakers. The model has already proven itself as all major releases have been downloaded by hundreds of thousands of users. However, to really tap into the core of peer-to-peer distribution, the focus will now shift to peer-to-peer promotion.

vodo In an attempt to connect filmmakers with the distribution power of the file-sharing community, Steal This Film director Jamie King launched VODO last year. The project taps into this powerful capability to promote works of independent filmmakers.

VODO, short for voluntary donation, has been a great success thus far. With support from several torrent sites including EZTV, The Pirate Bay and isoHunt, all of VODO’s major releases have been downloaded several hundred thousand times. In addition, downloaders have donated tens of thousands of dollars to the filmmakers.

Thus far, most of the buzz has been created by a small coalition of file-sharing sites. But with the the release of VODO 2.1 which rolled out this week, the founders of the project hope to get the average peer more engaged in promoting VODO films. With this strategy the promotional power should shift towards a swarm of real people and influencers, instead of the large sites.

The site added the VO.DO domain to the existing VODO.net one this week and introduced several new features at the same time. One of the new features is meant to increase user engagement. To motivate the public to share and promote films that are released through VODO, the project has introduced a reward system.

“We've created an internal currency, the Do, with which we'll reward Influencers,” VODO founder Jamie King explains. “Every time someone downloads a release because of you, visits an artist's VODO page, signs up or sponsors an artist, you'll receive a few Do.”

VODO users who have an account can link to films on their blogs, or post download links on Facebook and Twitter. The VODO site then keeps track of all incoming links and how many people sign up and donate through their influence.

“There are two ways to look at Do: as a reputation currency that allows people to compare how much value they have produced for VODO creators; and as an exchange currency that has actual value in the world. In time, you'll be able to trade Do for all sorts of offers, prizes and merchandise,” King says.

Of course, a lot of individuals have already helped to promote VODO releases such as Pioneer One and The Yes Men Fix The World. But through the new features the VODO team wants to reward those people and emphasize that the real power of peer-to-peer promotion lies with the people.

Another major change in VODO 2.1 aside from Do is the open submission process. Previously, VODO would carefully select which films were allowed to be distributed via the site, but as of now submissions are open. Everyone who wants to share video content can create a publisher account, connect with fans, and set up sponsorship incentives.

Every month VODO will continue to select one film that will be promoted and featured by the leading file-sharing sites and applications. Today, VODO begins promoting another high-quality film: Person Of Interest. As with all VODO releases it can be downloaded via BitTorrent for free.

Check it out to see what the new VODO is all about.

Person Of Interest Trailer

Article from: TorrentFreak.

Anti-Piracy Lawyers Face DDoS Before Pivotal Court Decision

Posted: 02 Oct 2010 10:43 AM PDT

Undeterred by the online destruction of ACS:Law, UK lawyers Gallant Macmillan will head off to the High Court on Monday to demand the identities of hundreds more people they claim have been detected sharing files online. While the ISP that holds the identities says it will resist the demand and ask for the hearing to be adjourned, the judge and jury of Operation Payback will pass down their verdict tomorrow, sentencing Gallant Macmillan to a DDoS attack.

gmlegal On Monday 20th September, London lawyers Gallant Macmillan went to court on behalf of their client and huge independent music label Ministry of Sound. Their aim: to obtain the identities of hundreds of alleged file-sharers from UK ISPs.

The hearing, Ministry of Sound Recordings Ltd v Plusnet Plc, went ahead at 2:30pm in London before judge Chief Master Winegarten (CMW). Other ISPs detailed were BT, Sky and O2/Be Unlimited.

Gallant Macmillan’s legal team expected a walk in the park that day, and why shouldn’t they? Plusnet, a subsidiary of telecoms giant BT, had already agreed that they would not contest the application. The judge, however, had other ideas.

The judge voiced concerns about the amount of mail he had received from Internet subscribers who had been previously wrongly accused. "There wouldn't be this hue and cry unless you were pursuing people who were innocent," he told the applicants.

Instead of going ahead and ordering Plusnet to hand over the information to Gallant Macmilan, the judge explained that he had received by letter "concerns from the public" that must first be addressed. The applicant (MoS) was ordered to respond to those concerns by 27th September and the hearing itself was adjourned to be concluded 4th October 2010 – this coming Monday.

Then last weekend, all hell broke loose. While recovering from a DDoS attack, ACS:Law gave a very clear demonstration of how securely they had been holding onto highly personal and sensitive data by publishing their email backups to the public. Not only were the internal workings of the company put on show, but thousands of ISP subscriber identities (Plusnet customers included) were spilled onto the Internet, many of them linked to pornographic content.

Only after these events did the authorities in the UK sit up and listen and ISPs other than TalkTalk and Virgin Media air concerns about these law firms and their actions.

Nevertheless, while Andrew Crossley of ACS:Law sees his company and quite possibly his career in ruins before him, Gallant Macmillan remain undeterred. They will go to the High Court on Monday as planned and demand subscriber identities from Plusnet armed with a case as weak as that presented by ACS:Law, with evidence acknowledged by experts as incapable of identifying an infringer, and employing equally untested data handling, processing and security procedures.

After initially giving ACS:Law and Gallant Macmillan an easy ride, Plusnet now say they will resist applications to hand over customer details to them in future. TorrentFreak has been speaking with Plusnet throughout the week and have asked them on a number of occasions if they will send a proper lawyer to the High Court on Monday prepared to fight the application, but up to now they haven’t been able to give us reassurances that will happen. They have confirmed, however, that they will ask for an adjournment of the hearing to assess the position.

Sadly that may well be too little, too late, and the judge may have no other option but to grant Gallant Macmillan’s application if Plusnet don’t go equipped with a proper lawyer to defend. If they don’t (and end up handing over more details as a result) it will be a PR disaster for the company and the whole speculative invoicing model will be back on track in the UK.

Gallant will write to hundreds of people, scaring the living daylights out of many of them, with letters containing barely understandable legal jargon and veiled threats which to the layman suggest that ruination is round the corner, unless they pay up a few hundred pounds to make it all go away.

It is exactly this sort of behavior and (ab)uses of the legal system which have caused the Anonymous masses and their growing numbers of sympathizers to become absolutely incandescent with rage.

“Gallant Macmillan’s actions are likely to attract the ire of users of 4chan, who are currently targeting firms involved in combating online piracy,” wrote the BBC yesterday. TorrentFreak can confirm that the BBC are correct (pic) in that assumption.

At 2pm EST (7pm GMT) Sunday October 3rd (tomorrow), the website of Gallant Macmillan will become the next target of a DDoS attack, coordinated from the Operation Payback homepage.

“We as Anonymous are asserting the basic right of a free society – that authorities exist to serve people, not to terrify and cow them,” a leader of the operation told TorrentFreak in a statement. “We are reminding these firms who use fear on us that they should instead fear us. We ask everyone that ever receives a letter from them not to pay up, and not to give in.”

Interestingly, the site that Gallant Macmillan has been using for its speculative invoicing scheme, Pay to Play, has been taken down.

Update:Anonymous: Their site is now producing an “Invalid Hostname” error. This suggests that an administrator has manually pulled the website off the server, although the domain is still pointing to the same server. There is not yet any evidence that this was the result of an early DDoS attack, however it could be because the administrator wanted to avoid the planned DDoS attack and thus pulled the site offline on purpose.

Article from: TorrentFreak.

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